A motor/generator includes a rotor member, a shorting member and a stator.
The rotor member has a plurality of permanent magnets. The shorting
member is configured and arranged to selectively establish a
short-circuit in magnetic flux of the permanent magnets to switch between
a normal state in which the magnetic flux is not shorted and a shorted
state in which the magnetic flux is shorted. The stator has a plurality
of coils configured and arranged to be energized with a composite
electrical current including first and second current components. The
stator is further configured and arranged to form a first magnetic
circuit between the coils and the permanent magnets with the first
current component to drive the rotor member and to form a second magnetic
circuit between the coils and the shorting member with the second current
component to selectively switch between the normal state and the shorted
state.